


Ambushed

by binkty



Category: Sleepy Hollow (TV)
Genre: F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Pre-Relationship, serious injury
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-25
Updated: 2016-03-29
Packaged: 2018-04-05 12:36:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4180110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/binkty/pseuds/binkty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>So focused was Crane on grappling with the Hessian for the talisman that he didn't notice when one of the Hessian's hands left the fight. But Abbie saw everything. She saw the Hessian reaching back behind himself. Saw him grabbing a pistol from his waistband at the small of his back. </p>
<p>She wanted desperately to warn Crane but it was like she could no longer remember how to make her voice work. As if her feet were literally rooted to the ground. All she could manage to do was stare in horror as the Hessian pressed the barrel of his gun to Crane's abdomen and fired.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> My first foray into writing for Sleepy Hollow. Starting writing it after the first season's finale and never got around to finishing it. Thought it was about time that I did. I'd also like to add that I hate coming up with titles and if I can think of something better, this one might be changed...

It was all supposed to be so simple. Go in, get the thing, get out. But when had anything they'd done ever been simple? 

The first two shots missed Abbie by mere inches and she flinched involuntarily before her training kicked in and then her weapon was immediately in her hands, her eyes scanning the area for the shooter as she crouched down to make herself an even smaller target. She was able to do little more than discern the gunman's general direction before a new string of shots whizzed by them, this time coming at them from a different angle. 

_More than one shooter_ , Abbie noted before shouting, "Crane, get down!" and shrinking back behind one of the pillars of the building’s colonnade entrance. She waited until she was sure that he was safely hidden behind the one nearest him and then risked taking a peek around the corner of her cover.

Peering through the dim light of the street lamps, she caught movement to the right and took the opportunity of a temporary lull in the enemy fire to fire off a few shots of her own. She watched as a body twisted and then fell to the ground when one of her bullets hit its mark and then ducked back behind the wall when the returning fire started up again. 

She signalled to Crane that there was one down but she had no idea how many more of them were still out there. The first time she and Crane had faced a group of Hessians there had only been three. With one already down, that was a number she thought for sure they could handle. But there had been at least half a dozen the time the Hessians infiltrated and then set a block of C4 off inside of the Department of Water and Power in order to free The Horseman. That wasn't really a number she wanted to think about when they had them seemingly pinned down and at that moment all she and Crane had between them was her lone service weapon and a rapidly dwindling amount of bullets.

Abbie peeked out from around the pillar again and let off another series of shots. She was able to get a better scope of the situation this time and from what she was able to see, they got lucky. Seemed the Hessians liked to keep things small for recovery missions and she was sure that that was what this was. After all, wasn't that the reason she and Crane had just snuck into the Historical Society building? The Hessians were after the talisman. The Witnesses just had to make sure that they didn't get it. 

Taking cover once again, Abbie pressed her back to the wall and then looked over to her partner. "Crane, we have to get to the car!" she called to him. She looked down at the gun in her hands and did some quick calculations, figuring she had at most four shots left. _And_ you _have to start carrying a weapon_ , she thought errantly. 

"We make a break for it on three." Crane nodded his understanding and gripped the talisman tighter to his chest in anticipation. "One," Abbie counted, "Two. _Three_ ," and they both bounded from their hiding places. 

The Hessians had taken that same moment to make their move. One of them was now barrelling toward the two Witnesses and Abbie wondered where his friend was as she threw her arm behind her to give them some cover fire. No more than half a second later, the friend leapt out of the shadows and tackled Crane to the ground.

"Crane!" Abbie cried as he hit the ground hard, causing the talisman to go flying from his grasp and skid away across the pavement. She aimed her gun at his assailant and fired but the gun clicked empty. "Shit!"

"Lieutenant! The talisman!" Crane called out, scrambling to get to his feet.

Abbie stood with empty weapon in hand, unsure about what to do next. On the one hand, she wanted to go to Crane, needed to be sure of his safety, but Crane's long stride combined with her already short one being slowed down by the distraction of providing cover fire had created a distance that meant she wouldn't be able to get to him before the Hessian was on him again. And the other hand had the Hessian's partner mere seconds away from being right on top of her. 

She cast another glance in Crane's direction, saw that he was back on his feet and knew that rationally, even though there was still a Hessian on his heels, Crane was a man more than capable of taking care of himself. She sucked in a breath to steel herself, holstered her now useless gun, and then turned to fully face the oncoming enemy, leaving Crane to, at least momentarily, fend for himself. 

After having his first blow dodged, the Hessian lunged for Abbie's neck and she briefly wondered, as his hands set to encircle her throat, what it was about it that always seemed to draw the enemy toward it like a magnet. Thankfully, this time she wasn't being lifted off of her feet nor was she facing someone with inhuman strength and that meant that she could get herself out of the hold. She threw her right arm overtop of the both of his as she twisted hard to the left, breaking his grip and trapping his hands against her body, and then used the momentum of her about turn and landed a swift elbow to his jaw. 

The Hessian reeled back, stunned, and Abbie used his temporarily dazed state to her advantage, placing both of her hands on his shoulders to help her drive her knee up into his stomach and then once he was doubled over, bring her interlocked fists down hard on the back of his head. She stepped back and watched as he slumped to the ground, satisfied that she had him out completely cold. 

With her adversary down, Abbie turned back to Crane and saw what happened next as if in slow motion. 

So focused was Crane on grappling with the Hessian for the talisman that he didn't notice when one of the Hessian's hands left the fight. But Abbie saw everything. She saw the Hessian reaching back behind himself. Saw him grabbing a pistol from his waistband at the small of his back. 

She was desperate to warn Crane but it was like she could no longer remember how to make her voice work. As if her feet were literally rooted to the ground. All she could manage to do was stare in horror as the Hessian pressed the barrel of his gun to Crane's abdomen and fired. 

The loud bang of the gun discharging knocked loose whatever vice grip had taken hold of her vocal cords. An anguished cry of "CRANE!" exploded from her throat.

Abbie remained frozen in her spot and watched, furrow-browed and slack-jawed, as the Hessian wrenched the talisman from Crane's now limp hands and then took off, tossing her a supercilious smirk over his shoulder as he went, and only thawed at the sound of Crane falling to his knees. Her head snapped back in his direction and she ran over to his side, cradling him as he fell back and to the side and then positioning him fully onto his back so she could take him in.

"Oh my God," she breathed. Blood was gushing from the hole in his abdomen and her hands hovered over his stomach in panic for a moment before her mind cleared enough for her to remember to press them to the wound. 

"Lieutenant," Crane gasped.

"No, save your energy. Don't talk." Keeping one of her hands pressed firmly to the wound, she used the other to grab her cell from her back pocket and called in for help. "This is Lieutenant Abbie Mills. Multiple shots fired in front of the Sleepy Hollow Historical Society. Two suspects are down, a third has fled. I've got two gsw's: one to the abdomen; the other unknown. I need a bus at this location immediately." She tossed her phone carelessly to the side and proceeded to strip herself of her jacket so she could use it to help her keep pressure on the wound.

"Lieutenant," Crane tried again but Abbie didn't register his attempt to get her attention, too lost in her thoughts to hear it.

"The ambulance is coming. You're going to be okay, Crane." She stared blindly at her hands on his makeshift bandage, willing the bleeding to stop, for him to really be okay.

"Abbie." Her eyes snapped into focus at the sound of her rarely used first name and their eyes locked as she levelled her gaze with his. 

"No," she pre-empted before he could utter another word, knowing by the look in his eyes what he was going to say. She gave a determined shake of her head. "No, you are not allowed to say your goodbyes. You're going to be fine, do you hear me? You are going to be fine." Her tone brooked no arguments. "The ambulance is going to come and they are going to take you to the hospital and then the doctors are going to fix you right up." The sound of approaching sirens brought a small smile to her face. "See? There's the ambulance now. Don't worry, Crane. Everything's going to be alright." She wasn't sure who she was trying to convinced more, him or herself. 

All of the sudden there was a flurry of activity. Officers arrived and began the process of securing the scene. Tape was put up around the perimeter. Shell casings were being marked. They had strapped handcuffs onto the one Hessian and he was put into the back of a cruiser. The other was pronounced dead on the scene. 

Abbie was pulled aside as soon as the paramedics got there and asked to give her account of the events. She peppered her story with as much of the truth as she could without giving the actual truth away but she was having trouble focusing, her gaze straying over every few seconds to where Crane was being worked on.

When she noticed the paramedics loading Crane onto a gurney and then wheeling that gurney toward a waiting ambulance, she threw her hand up, cutting Detective Reynolds' next question off in its tracks. 

"I'm sorry, I've gotta go," she apologized, already starting to make her way over to the ambulance.

"Mills, wait! I've just got a couple mo–"

"That's my partner they're taking away," Abbie cut him off to remind him, pointing in Crane's direction.

Detective Reynolds gave her an apologetic smile and closed his notebook, nodding in understanding.

She nodded her thanks in return and then took off at a jog. "Wait! Wait!" she called to the EMTs, stopping them before they could close the ambulance doors. "I'm coming with him." She hopped inside and took a seat to Crane's left. 

Crane's head lolled to the side. "Lieutenant?"

"I'm here, Crane," she replied, taking his hand into both of hers. "I'm here." 

His eyes slid closed and his breath released in a stuttered sigh. 

"Crane?" Abbie called when his eyes remained closed. "Open your eyes, Crane. Look at me." His eyelids lifted, if only slightly, and she smiled and squeezed his hand. "That's it. Stay with me, Crane." 

She held his hand tight the entire ride to the hospital and did all she could to keep him conscious, afraid that if she let him close his eyes for too long, they'd never open again.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh man, I'm so sorry this took me so long to complete. I just couldn't seem to make the pieces fit together no matter how hard I tried. But I finally got it to work and now it's done so yay! Hopefully you enjoy it.

They'd taken Crane up to surgery mere minutes after their arrival at the hospital and Abbie was left standing in the middle of the hall, staring after the closed elevator doors, with nothing but her spiralling thoughts to keep her company. She had still yet to move from her spot when Jenny and Irving came bounding up to her. 

"Abbie," Jenny breathed, eyes taking in the blood on her sister's clothes, her hands, her face. "What happened?"

Abbie blinked as she slowly registered that Jenny was standing in front of her. "Jenny," she acknowledged but couldn't make herself say anything more. Her gaze swept over Jenny's concerned face and then travelled down to rest on her own bloodied hands. They shook as she looked down on them and she quickly balled them into fists in attempt to quell their unwanted movements. 

Flashes of Corbin's headless body lying on the dirt floor of Fox Creek Stables, of his severed head lying a few feet away from it, flooded her mind's eye to replace the constant loop of Crane getting shot and then falling to the ground that had been previously plaguing her. It was all happening again. Yet again one of the most important people in her life had been struck down right in front of her and yet again she had been able to do nothing more than watch. 

Abbie's breathing increased as the anxiety inside her grew and all the while she continued to just stare at her hands. How many people was she slated to watch die, powerless to do anything to help? Dr. Vega, Mr. Gillespie – Corbin. Even Brooks. She couldn’t save any of them. And now there was a possibility that Crane’s name would be added to the list.

Jenny and Irving exchanged troubled looks as they watched Abbie withdraw further into herself before Jenny wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders. "Okay," she said softly, using her hands at Abbie's shoulders to gently guide her. "Let's get you cleaned up, alright?"

Abbie nodded absently and allowed herself to be led away. 

By the time the last of the blood had been removed from Abbie's skin, Jenny had gotten the whole story of what happened out of her sister but the way Abbie answered her questions had her a little more than worried. Her responses had been robotic, her voice wooden, and she looked at her with a gaze that Jenny could tell was blind, tracking her movements but not actually _seeing_ them. 

Her worry only grew when they met back up with Irving in the waiting room.

While Jenny and Irving had kept up a stilted conversation in the oppressive wait for news of Crane, Abbie had kept deathly quiet, sitting perfectly still, her hands folded neatly in her lap. She was an empty shell on automatic pilot, shut down so that she wouldn't fall apart. If Crane didn't make it… Jenny didn't allow herself to finish that thought. 

The arrival of one of Crane's doctors roused Abbie from her eerie stillness, sending her springing from her seat before Jenny and Irving had even realized she was there. 

"Is he out of surgery? Is he alright? Can I see him?" The other woman held up her hands for silence and Abbie immediately closed her mouth and then took a moment to collect herself with a steadying breath before returning her full attention to the woman in front of her. 

"I know you're worried about him but I can't answer your questions if you won't stop asking them to let me," the doctor, who Abbie remembered was named Singh, said not unkindly, giving her a reassuring smile. "Yes, he's out of surgery. It was touch and go in there for a while but we managed to stop all of the bleeding and repair the damage caused by the bullet. He lost a lot of blood, though, so he's not out of the woods yet, but he's stable for now. We'll know more when he wakes up."

Abbie nodded, letting the information sink in. "Can we see him?" she asked again, as Jenny and Irving had gotten up and were now flanking her on either side.

Dr. Singh hesitated a moment, looking them over. 

"He was wounded working a case for the department and his work with Lieutenant Mills has proved instrumental for us on numerous occasions. For all intents and purposes, he is one of our own," Irving informed, putting just the tiniest amount of the weight afforded to him as police captain behind his words. "We'd very much appreciate it if we could see him." 

When Dr. Singh still didn't look entirely convinced, Jenny added, "Look, I know we might not look like it but we are his family. He would want us in there."

It was the desperation she saw on Abbie's face that finally caused the doctor to cave. "Alright. Follow me."

A few minutes later and Abbie was nodding her thanks as Dr. Singh made her exit from Crane's room. Once the doctor was gone, she gave her full attention over to where Crane was lying in his hospital bed. "He's breathing on his own," she noted, making her way over to his side and taking a seat in one of the chairs situated there. "Gotta be a good sign that they don't have him hooked up to a ventilator, right?" 

Irving and Jenny hummed their agreement and then Jenny raised a question she was loathed to even ask. "Do you think they might come here to try and finish the job?" She watched as Abbie's shoulder noticeably tensed at her words but the possibility needed to be discussed.

"They weren't sent there to kill us. He could've shot me too but he didn't," Abbie stated and then a treacherous little voice in her mind taunted her with the possibility that maybe they were only meant to kill him. "You're right though. We shouldn't discount the possibility."

"I'll put a security detail outside his door," Irving decided.

Jenny watched him reach inside his suit jacket for his phone with wary eyes. "How can you be sure the guys you put on him can be trusted?" 

"I sincerely doubt the entire police force has switched to the dark side."

"What if it has?" she countered. "Or at least a good part of it? We have no idea how many people Moloch has under his sway."

"Ramirez and Stevenson are good guys, Jenny. I know them."

"And Abbie knew Brooks. Look how well that turned out."

Abbie's voice cut through their argument, "I'm staying here with him. So it doesn't matter." And she would be ready to guard him this time should anyone try to come for him. She would keep him safe. She had to. "Post guards outside his door or don't but I'm not leaving him. He should have someone he knows here to greet him when he wakes up." 

Irving sighed. "Mills, it's been a long night. You should go home. Try to get some rest." 

She hadn't taken her eyes off of Crane since the doctor left the room but now Abbie turned toward her boss with steely determination in her eyes. "I am not leaving him!" 

Irving blinked, stunned by the sudden ferocity in Abbie's voice, and it was he who first broke eye contact, turning his gaze to Jenny, who was gaping at her sister in surprise and concern. This was more than mere worry for a friend.

Jenny studied Abbie as she returned her focus to Crane before breaking the stifling silence that had descended upon them in the wake of Abbie's outburst. "She has a point. It probably would be better if one of us was here when he woke up. We could take shifts." She could see Abbie shaking her head in refusal already but they'd fight that battle when they came to it. 

"Alright fine," Irving conceded. "But I'm still going to set up that security detail. Even if one of us is here at all times, it wouldn't hurt to have the extra bodies."

As Irving left to make the call, Jenny cautiously stepped closer to her sister. "Abbie."

"Don't, Jenny."

"Abbie," she continued undeterred, "this wasn't your fault. You have to know that. You're a Witness but you're still human. You can't expect yourself to be able to protect everyone all of the time."

Abbie scoffed. "I can't protect anyone," she muttered. "You should know that better than anybody."

Jenny sighed, hating to see her sister caught in this spiral and knowing that what happen between them when they were younger was playing a part in it. Trying to get through to her in that moment was obviously destined to be a useless endeavour. Abbie wasn't going to let anyone talk her out of her guilt with the object of her latest perceived failure lying, unconscious, in a hospital bed right in front of her. 

"I'm going to see if I can find you a change of clothes." She squeezed Abbie's shoulder and hoped that her big sister knew that she no longer blamed her for what happened when they were young, that she'd long since forgiven her.

The only response Abbie gave to her sister's words was to bow her head. She watched her leave out of the corner of her eye and then let out a stuttered breath. She was going to have to fix that later. Jenny didn't deserve to be an outlet for her self-pity. 

She turned her attention back to Crane, taking his large hand into both of hers, and braced her elbows on the edge of his bed to hold his hand aloft. She brought her head down and pressed her brow to the back of it, staying that way for a while, as if through the contact she might be able to somehow infuse her strength into him.

"I need you to wake up, Crane," she spoke eventually. She raised her head to look down on him once more. "Just let me know that you're going to be alright and then you can get some more rest, okay?" Nerves had her small hands playing with his long fingers, alternately threading and unthreading them with hers or stroking them with her thumbs. "I can handle it if you're out of commission for a while. But I can't handle you leaving me. I need you." A tear fell unchecked down her cheek. "So please. Stay with me, Crane. Wake up. Because I can't lose you too."

It was some time later when Crane's eyes finally blinked open, gradually coming into focus to take in his unfamiliar surroundings. He knew from their encounter with Thomas that he must have been in a hospital. And then he remember: the Hessians attack, fighting for the talisman, the gunshot. His hand went to his bandaged abdomen and he groaned softly as he tried to shift his position.

His eyes continued to search the room, landing on a welcome sight. Abbie was curled up in one of the chairs. Exhaustion having finally taken hold of her, she had fallen asleep.

"Miss Mills?"

Abbie's eyes opened slowly and upon realization of what she was seeing, she jumped up in her chair. "Crane?" she called, her voice cracking with emotion. All of the fear and anxiety from the night before, the constant rush of adrenaline, the relentless guilt, all came to a head at that moment and a dam broke inside her resulting in an uncharacteristic flood of tears. 

A sob escaped her as she all but leapt from her chair and made her way over to tuck herself in beside him as gently as she could. Too relieved to care, she let the tears flow and just held him.

"I'm all right, Lieutenant," he said soothingly, pressing his cheek to the top of her head and rubbing small, reassuring circles onto her back.

Abbie choked out a small laugh. " _I_ should be comforting _you_."

"I take comfort in bringing you comfort," he replied and she sighed and then pushed herself up onto her elbow a moment later so that she could look him in the eyes. 

"I need you to stop almost dying on me, okay? You had me really worried, Crane. "

"I shall do my very best to remain ever by your side." He gave her a small smile and she returned it with one of her own before settling herself back against him, knowing that she should go find a doctor but not yet ready to remove herself from the warmth of his embrace, to give up the feel of his lungs expanding against her, or the sound of his heart beating in her ear. 

"The talisman?" he asked after a while.

"We'll worry about that later."


End file.
